Super Grain Chicken Chili

This is the second installment of the great freezer meal prep of 2018! If you missed the first post, I previously shared my Cabbage Leek soup. This is what happens when you take a nutrition class, then go to the store and buy too much produce! Quick easy meals for me, and new recipes for you!

This Super Grain Chicken Chili was inspired by the tenet of that nutrition class to eat more whole grains and less fatty meats. I’ll admit that all the different recommendations for nutrition kinda drive me nuts! Don’t eat grains, eat more grains, don’t eat red meat, fat is good for you. It’s enough to drive a sane person crazy!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I truly believe that nutrition is a very personal thing based on health conditions and goals. Not every diet is good for every body. Eat real food, lots more vegetables, and find what works best for you.

Ok, soapbox over! Let’s get Chili-in. Haha, see what I did there? Don’t worry, this recipe is anything but chill! Well, the freezer part is actually VERY chill. This metaphor is going too far. Let’s talk about these grains. I got lucky and found this super grain blend at my local store. It’s comprised of quinoa, millet, and buckwheat. If you can’t find this or a similar gluten free blend, feel free to use plain quinoa.

Since I was in freezer meal mode I just dumped everything into a gallon ziploc bag, but you could just as easily place the ingredients into the crockpot immediately. Either way it’s a fast and easy meal. If using the freezer method, place grain blend, drained great northern beans, green chiles, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, salt, pepper, seasoning blend, garlic,1 cup broth, and shredded chicken into bag. Seal leaving air in and turn a couple of times to mix well. Open slightly and squeeze out as much as as possible. Seal well, and lie flat in freezer. Once this is frozen you can stack your skinny bag vertically to save space.

When you’re ready to cook your chicken chili, remove bag from freezer and place in refrigerator for 24 hours to thaw. These bags sweat a lot on thawing, so place some paper towels under your bag to save yourself a mess. To cook, dump contents of bag into slow cooker. Add 4 cups broth and cook on LOW for 4 hours.

I was actually surprised that this was ready so quickly, we had it for lunch instead of planned dinner. It was really nice though because usually my husband doesn’t get to eat hot fresh food because he takes it for lunch. To serve this, I added fresh guacamole and shredded mozzarella cheese and he stated that the creaminess blended perfectly with the spices in the chicken chili!